John Grisham, Don Blankenship and West Virginia

There had been talk of uncanny parallels between West Virginia 2004 state Supreme Court race and The Appeal, the latest legal thriller from John Grisham.

Promoting the release of his new book, the "best-selling novelist of the 1990s" ended such speculation Tuesday, on NBC's Today show.

From the web site for the top-rated morning program:

The story plays out with a chemical company found guilty of dumping toxic waste and liable for the deaths of scores of people in a fictional Mississippi town. The owner of the company tries to get out of paying a $41 million settlement by spending millions to help elect a justice to the Mississippi Supreme Court that will swing the appeal the other way.

When (Matt) Lauer asked if such a story was far-fetched, Grisham said, “It’s already happened.”

“It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. A guy owned a coal company. He got tired of getting sued. He elected his guy to the Supreme Court. It switched 5-4 back his way and he didn’t worry about getting sued.”

Today also offers video of the interview.

It's unclear whether the recent release of Monaco vacation photos will prove sufficiently well-timed to influence sales. But Grisham's remark coincides with a revisiting of the 2004 election that has Justice Brent Benjamin fielding requests for his recusal in at least one Massey case.

As The Associate Press and others have previously reported, Blankenship has estimated spending $3.5 million on a wide-ranging independent political campaign that supported Benjamin's candidacy while attacking his opponent, incumbent Justice Warren McGraw.

Addressing the topic of judicial selection, the AP's Tom Breen includes Grisham's TV comments. His story also observes that Benjamin "has also ruled against Massey in at least three cases since joining the court, records show. Those included two challenges to West Virginia's severance tax that together involved more than $505 million owed by Massey and other coal operators."

The article notes as well that "Benjamin helped form the 3-2 majority that reversed a $76.3 million judgment won by Harman against Massey," but "then voted last week to vacate that November decision and rehear the appeal."

Grisham's publisher paints the apparently-Benjamin-inspired character as "a young, unsuspecting candidate" recruited by the villainous company owner ("Carl Trudeau") and "his political operatives." Through "an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit," they "finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice," the publisher's blurb reads.

The Charleston Gazette and Public Broadcasting each has a story focusing on Grisham's novel and its apparent inspiration.